Eugene of Savoy: The Frederician Perspective

[selenak]

We have in our library the three volume biography of Prince Eugene of Savoye by Alfred von Arneth, which yours truly did not have the time to read so far, but has dipped into for points of Frederician interest, to wit, the Eugene-Seckendorff relationship, the lead up and aftermath of the 1730 escape attempt from the Austrian pov. Arneth is writing this very obviously from a defensive position where almost all 19th century readers/writers have adopted the Prussian Hohenzollern narrative.

(mildred_of_midgard: Obvious, cahn, because Arneth was an Austrian. He was the head of the state archives, and he published reams of historical documentation, including a 10-volume bio of MT and a ton of correspondence, which is how we know MT did not, in fact, write to Madame Pompadour.")

selenak: Which means not only is he correcting but he sometimes goes over the top in defending. Some examples for both:

( Arneth for the defense on bribery, international marriage projects and plots )

( Eugene and Seckendorff react to Katte's execution: )

( The Military Bromance of the 18th Century: Eugene and Marlborough )

( English wiki vs Liselotte of the Palatinate: the debate about Eugene's sexuality is ON! )

Finally, Eugene, the historical novel:

( Eugene as written by two marxists )